Improvement in handles for coffins



NITED STATES BENJAMIN w. woosTEE,

PATENT OEEICE.

OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,3%@ dated February11, 1862.

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN W. Woos- TER, of thecity of Albany, Stateof New York, have invented a new and useful Method of ConstructingGodin-Handles with their Ornamental Plates; and I declare the followingspecification, with the drawings accompanying it and forming partthereof, to be a full and perfect description of my invention.

In the drawings similar letters denote the same parts of the apparatus.

For the purpose of carrying coflins conveniently it is customary toattach metallic handles to them-two or more to each side. These are ofthe form and construction coinmonly used for chests and drawersthat is,a loop of metal A, (see Fig. 1,) Whose ends are pivoted through uprightstandards B B, proj ecting from a stout metal plate C, the whole beingsecured to the wood by screws D, passing through the plate.

My improvement consists in attaching t-he handles to the wood by astrong loop independently of the plate, the plate being subquently fixedto the wood.

Figure 2 shows the handle, and Fig. 3 the loop and plate separated fromeach other in plan; Fig. 4, the parts all together in plan; Figs.- 5 and6, the same in section through the vertical line :c y, Fig. 4.

H is the handle, which has at e (see Fig. 2) a journal iitted to astrong loop or socket E. This loop has stout lugs d and b, projectingabove and below it, through which by strong screws it is secured to thesides W of the coffin. This being done, the plate P is put into itsplace. The plate has a flat rim r and a raised or convex body P, andalso has a niche f f f f cut into its upper edge to pass the lug b ofthe loop under its raised body,

The width of the rim r and of lug d are made equal to give a symmetricalappearance to the whole, as shown `in Fig. 4. When the plate is in itsplace, it is fastened with light screws or pins to the wood, and thework is complete. The back part of journal e has a projecting toe n,Figs. 5 and 6, so iitted that when the handle H is raised from itshanging position, as shown in Fig. 6, to its horizontal one, Fig. 5, itshall stop against the side of the loop and prevent the handle fromturning any farther upward. This rnode of construction notonly makes thehandle 'independent of the plate,but allows the fastenings to be closeto the body E of the loop, and consequently more reliable than when atthe edge of the plate. It also allows the adaptation to one form ofhandle of various shaped and diderently ornamented plates, which is aneconomic feature of consequence in the manufacture and sale of thesehandles.

My invention, although intended primarily for cofiins, I design to usefor bureaus, chests, and other appliances where the loop-handle is used.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The combination of the handle H and its loop E, constructed asdescribed, with the ornamental plate P, for the purposes set forth inthe within specification.

B. W. WOOSTER.

Witnesses: I

RICH. VAEICK DE WITT, AG. RosE.

